The Do’s and Don’ts within the Business Culture of Social Media

13 May 2019

There are so many ways to embrace social media and push your company’s bottom line forward. After all, many social media platforms are major hangout spots for your target audience. Knowing this, it makes a lot of sense to engage with your audience in order to build your credibility, attract new clients and gain success within your business. However, before you enter the social media world, there are a lot of components that you’ll want to consider when it pertains to business culture. More than likely, you have seen a lot of businesses fumble when they’ve communicated within the realms of social media. As a result, they’ve experienced declines in their sales, boycotts and more. In order to keep yourself in the safe zone, you’ll want to be considerate of your audiences and the sensitivities within the immediate climate. Consider the following do’s and don’ts within the business culture of social media.

Do’s

Do your research regarding the language.

Do your research regarding the language of social media. Understand concepts like trending topics, hash tags and Snapchat emojis. There are too many resources out there for you to make a mistake with basic social media etiquette. While it’s great to use a trending topic in order to push your brand’s visibility, you don’t want to take advantage of a trending topic that is sensitive. For example, if a major public figure has passed away, don’t use that hashtag in order to promote your latest product. Be sensitive to the language and conversation that’s happening in the current moment. When people are talking about a certain hot topic within the news, you can join in. It makes you appear relevant as a brand. However, make sure that you keep things safe in terms of your conversation out of respect for your audience.

Do your best to create amazing content.

Take a look at a famous couple like Will and Jada Pinkett Smith. They have utilized platforms like Facebook and Instagram to push their brands to phenomenal heights. People across the generations look forward to Jada Pinkett Smith’s show on Facebook Live. Many others also look forward to Will Smith’s interesting Instagram content. This is because they push the limits and create amazing content that’s inspirational, engaging and entertaining. Whether your business involves food, fashion or skincare, find ways to create content that captures an audience. You’ll have to put on your creative thinking cap in order to make this happen. However, look at what other brands are doing. Take what they’re doing to the next level. Set your brand apart by doing your best to be even more innovative.

Don’ts

Don’t post incessantly.

Do not post every hour on the hour. This is an easy way to burn your bridges and lose followers. You don’t have to post incessantly in order to capture an audience. Try not to post more than three or four times a day. After a while, things can get pretty redundant. However, if you’re hosting a major festival or you’re at a major event that’s brand-related, this is a reason for you to post frequently throughout the day. Otherwise, keep your posts short, sweet and succinct. People don’t have great attention spans. You want to capitalize on the short spans that many people have by maximizing your impact in spurts.

Don’t feed into negative comments.

Tons of people will have lots of negative things to say. It’s just the nature of the game. You can’t allow negative comments to send you into a depression or make you want to quit. Instead, make sure your followers understand that you’re cultivating a positive zone. If you are receiving comments from people who are consistently negative, you can easily block them. Otherwise, ignore any negativity because it won’t fuel your business forward. While there are many celebrities and business owners who love to respond to negative comments, this takes a lot more energy than it’s worth. If anything, be intentional about responding to the positive comments and developing a report around your tribe. As you do that, your tribe will be the ones to take care of the negative followers for you.

Don’t ignore your followers.

When you’re dealing with social media, one of the worst things you could do is ignore your followers. Your followers are there to support your brand. They’re following you because they’re interested in what you have to share. They’re interested in supporting what you are producing. Develop a conversation. Once you put out a post, ask questions. This helps you to spark dialogue. When people comment on your post, reply. If you can’t reply to all of them, hit the ‘like’ button on as many as you can. If your followers recognize that you are consistently ignoring them, they’re less likely to engage with you. It might take some prodding at first, but don’t be afraid to ask a question to get feedback. When you develop a tradition of sparking conversation, more people will naturally engage with your brand.

Craig Silva

Craig is a husband, a father, team leader, senior youth group coordinator, designer, brander, community builder, volunteer, blogger, and social media manager. Craig likes to go camping, travel, go on road trips, watch movies, read with his girls, build stuff, operate the grill, and play bass guitar. In June 2017, PR firm Cision identified Craig as one of Canada’s top 10 most popular male bloggers in the parents and family space. Known as Big Daddy Kreativ, his blog specializes in travel, lifestyle, food, automotive, events, parenting, movies, tech, recipes, health, pets, reviews, and giveaways.